Tel Aviv University has signed an agreement with Northwestern University declaring the two institutions “sister universities,” TAU announced on April 2. The academic cooperation pact was made official during a visit to the Tel Aviv campus by a delegation of top Northwestern officials led by Northwestern President Prof. Morton Schapiro.

Prof. Schapiro said he hoped the agreement would lead to a deeper academic relationship between the two universities. “The purpose of having such a large delegation in Israel is to strengthen academic cooperation between the two universities,” Prof. Schapiro said, praising the “high level of research” at TAU.

Tel Aviv University President Prof. Joseph Klafter thanked his counterpart for “determinedly and energetically standing with Israel” against attempts by academic organizations to boycott Israeli educational institutions for political reasons. Prof. Raanan Rein, vice president of TAU, said that the visit was an important element in the “strategy for the globalization of the university,” home to the largest number of international academic programs in Israel.